Father charged in 2-year-old son's death headed to trial in Bucks County court

Joan Hellyer @BCCTintheknow

Tuesday

Nov 14, 2017 at 7:44 PMNov 14, 2017 at 7:44 PM

Christopher Kuhn, 28, is charged with murder and other crimes in connection with the Oct. 3 crash in Tullytown that killed his son, Qadan Trievel.

A New Jersey man is headed to trial in Bucks County Court to face charges stemming from the Oct. 3 crash in Tullytown that killed his 2-year-old son.

Qadan Trievel suffered a fractured skull and other injuries after he was ejected from a gold Jeep driven by his father, Christopher Kuhn, according to witnesses who testified Tuesday morning during Kuhn's preliminary hearing before District Judge Robert Wagner in Bristol Township. The Jeep collided with two other vehicles after the 28-year-old Kuhn ran a red light at the Levittown Town Center entrance to the Home Depot on Route 13.

Kuhn, of the 100 block of Milton Avenue in Hamilton, faces charges of third-degree murder, homicide by vehicle, reckless driving, endangering the welfare of a child and driving with a suspended license. Robert D. James, Chief of the Homicide by Vehicle Division of the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, added charges of driving under the influence of drugs to the list Tuesday.

James called Tullytown Officer Justin Grotz, Sgt. Phil Kulan and Chief Daniel Doyle to testify about the crash scene at the ensuing investigation. Kulan confirmed that blood tests done on Kuhn at a local hospital showed that he had marijuana and Oxycodone in his system at the time of the crash.

Defense attorney Bradley Harry Bastedo argued that the testimony heard during the hearing Tuesday did not rise to the level of malice, as required for a defendant to face third-degree murder charges.

James responded by saying all of Kuhn's actions "before, during and after" the crash rose to the level of malice.

Wagner agreed, and ordered all charges against Kuhn to be sent to county court.

The midday crash happened after Kuhn allegedly stole a Vizio sound bar valued at $228 from the Wal-Mart in the Tullytown shopping center. He had his son with him while committing the theft, loss prevention specialist Ronald Cromwell testified during the hearing. Cromwell said he confronted Kuhn in the store's vestibule, but the suspect refused to stop, saying, "You can't hold me here."

Kuhn fled the store with his son and the speaker and went to the Jeep that was parked outside. Cromwell testified he saw Kuhn cover his license plate with his sweatshirt and then put his son and the merchandise in the Jeep.

Cromwell testified that he did not see Kuhn strap his son into a safety seat.

The toddler's mother, Mackenzy Trievel, and other family members sat in the front row of the courtroom for much of the near two-hour hearing. They listened, at times consoling each other, as James used the witnesses' testimonies to retrace the last moments of Qadan's life.

Wal-Mart shopper Sandor Marshall testified he witnessed Kuhn's encounter with Cromwell, and Kuhn's attempt to make a quick getaway, flying past two stop signs in the center's parking lot, before making a right turn at a high rate of speed onto southbound Route 13.

Fernando Medrano-Campos then picked up the narrative, with the assistance of Tullytown police Officer Ismael Ramos, who translated Campos' testimony during the hearing. The witness said he had a green light at the center's entrance to the Home Depot parking lot and was turning onto Route 13. Kuhn blew a red light in the Jeep and crashed into Campos' black GMC Envoy. The Jeep flipped a few times, hitting a silver Jeep Cherokee driven by Marwen Sinno, that had been waiting to turn into the center from the turning lane of northbound Route 13.

Both Campos and Sinno testified that Kuhn was the driver of the Gold Jeep that ran the red light. Sinno also described seeing Qadan laying on the road after he had been ejected from the Jeep.

"I thought it was a doll at first, but it turned out to be a child," Sinno said. He testified that he saw Kuhn pace back and forth a bit and then say a few curse words before he took off running.

Tullytown police, who had been called to Wal-Mart to investigate the theft report, arrived at the crash scene a few minutes later and chased after Kuhn. Officer John Finby quickly caught up with Kuhn and took him into custody.

Finby testified he then drove an ambulance that had responded to the crash to a local hospital while two emergency medical technicians attempted to save Qadan's life in the rear of the vehicle.

Bristol Township Detective Tim Fuhrmann, considered to be an expert in safety inspection, testified that he inspected the Jeep and found no mechanical problems on the vehicle that could have caused the crash. He also said the child safety seat in the rear of the vehicle, which Kuhn did not secure Qadan in before the crash, was properly installed and anchored in the vehicle.

Kuhn sat through most of the hearing without displaying much emotion. He looked straight ahead or away from the proceeding, except for when witnesses described his son's injuries. During those moments, Kuhn mostly looked down.

Kuhn's bail is set at $5 million; he remains in Bucks County prison. Kuhn's formal arraignment is set for Dec. 15 in Doylestown Borough, Wagner said.

Following the hearing, as he was led to a constable's SUV, Kuhn did not answer questions from reporters about whether the stolen sound bar was worth his son's life.

A victim's crime advocate who attended the hearing with Trievel family members said afterward that Qadan's mother did not want to take questions from the media.

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